ALEXANDER III TETRADRACHM – IMITATIVE EMISSION BASED ON AN ISSUE FROM PAMPHYLIA – CHOICE VF NGC GRADED GREEK COIN (Inv. 19489)

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19489. PAMPHYLIA. CONTEMPORARY IMITATION. CIVIC ISSUE WITH THE NAME AND TYPES OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, ca. 205–190 BC.
Silver Tetradrachm of Alexander type, 30 mm. Imitative issue, ca. 200–190 BC.
Obv. Head of young Heracles right in lion skin headdress. Rev. [Α]ΛΕΞΑΝΔ[ΡΟΥ], Zeus enthroned left, holding eagle and scepter, wreath rotated counterclockwise in left field.
Price –.
CHOICE VF, “perhaps imitative” noted on label.

This very interesting posthumous Alexander is almost certainly an imitation based on an Alexander type issue of Pamphylia. The N in the royal name is retrograde, a feature often seen in imitations. The rather substandard style, especially evident on the reverse of the coin, substantiates this conclusion. One possible source on which the imitation may be based is Price 2984 (“uncertain Pamphylian mint”) that uses a similar large wreath oriented downward as if suspended with control ON above in left field. The imitation, on the other hand, presents the wreath rotated and lacks the ON control.